Cabinets for filing, transfer, storage or the like



Ap 16, 1957 H. w. REGENHARDT CABINETS FOR FILING, TR'ANSFER, STORAGE OR THE LIKE Original Filed Oct. 29, 1952 United States Patent l CABINETS FOR FILING, TRANSFER, STORAGE OR THE LIKE Hans W. Regenhardt, Wooster, Ohio, assignor to Record Files, Inc., Wooster, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Continuation of application Serial No. 317,495, October 29, 1952, now Patent No. 2,726,916, dated December 13, 1255. This application June 23, 1954, Serial No. 438,

3 Claims. (Cl. 312-342) This invention relates to cabinets for filing, storage, transfer or the like in which synthetic resin bearings carry part or all of the weight of the drawers and their contents.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a simple, sturdy cabinet of this kind that will operate freely even when the drawer or drawers are heavily loaded; to that end, the invention contemplates the use in such a cabinet of synthetic resin bearings adapted to support the drawers at widely spaced zones. Another object is to provide the cabinet and drawers with a plurality of movable anti-friction bearings of synthetic resin for supporting the rear portions of the drawers, as, for example, by means of tracks and riders. Another object is to provide a filing cabinet in which there is extensive surface contact between the cabinet and each of a plurality of such anti-friction bearings. A general object is to take advantage in a filing cabinet or the like of the much improved conditions of operation that are made possible by the use therein of synthetic resin bearings.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description and from the accompanying drawings, in which: I

Figure l is a perspective of a cabinet consisting of a single compartment and a cooperating drawer embody ing the features of the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective of the compartment with the drawer removed;

Figure 3 is a perspective of the drawer alone; and

Figure 4 is fragmentary enlargement of part of the far corner of the drawer as seen in Figure 3.

Figures 1 to 3 are the same as the corresponding figures of application Serial No. 317,495, filed October 29, 1952, now Patent No. 2,726,9l6 granted December 13, 1955, of which the instant application is a continuation.

In Figures 1 and 2, the illustrated cabinet takes the form of a shell-like compartment, generally designated 1, made up of a bottom portion 2, a top portion 3, side walls 4 and 5, and a rear end wall (not shown). Cooperating with and adapted to close the front end of the compartment is a drawer generally designated 6 made up of a bottom portion 7, side walls 8 and 9, a rear end wall 11 and a front end wall 12. Although the cabinet shown in Figure 1 consists of a single compartment and drawer, it should be considered as representative of cabinets of the kind with which the invention has to do, including multiple compartment cabinets in which the compartments are in stacked relation, side-by-side relation, or both.

In the cabinet illustrated in the drawings, drawer- 6 is shown as cut away in conventional fashion along its sides between rear end wall 11 and front end wall 12. Along its lower longitudinally extending edges, it is reinforced by two longitudinally extending angle pieces one of which, generally designated 13, appears in Figure 3 in full lines and the other of which, generally designated 14, appears in dotted lines. As indicated by the dotted 2,789,025 Patented Apr. 16, 1957 line showing in Figure 3, these angle pieces have both vertically extending and horizontally extending portions. The latter underlie the bottom portion 7 of the drawer and are adapted to serve as runners for purposes which will appear hereinafter.

At the extreme rear and on each of the two opposite sides of drawer 6 an upright 15 is rigidly attached to the inside of the drawer, such uprights being formed and located as illustrated in Figure 4. Each of the uprights 15 carries near its upper end a horizontally extending out wardly directed pintle 16 which is preferably headed over or otherwise enlarged at its outer end 16a. The enlarged outer end 16a serves as a retainer for a bearing 17 of nylon or a similar synthetic resin that is mounted loosely on the shank of the pintle. The bearings 17 can be of any suitable size and shape, but in the preferred embodiment of the invention each takes the general form of a shallow block measuring about /4" x A x A" (the latter dimension being along the axis of the pintle) and in general answering to the description of a rectangular parallelopiped modified to the extent of incorporating or introducing a central bore (not shown) to enable it to receive the shank of pintle 16.

Toward the top and on the inside of compartment 1 are two ways 18, one on each side thereof, which accommodate bearings 17. The manner in which bearings 17 coact with ways 18 is indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1. Such ways preferably take the form of channels aflixed to the side walls of the compartment. The bases of the channels are in contact with the side walls of the compartment with their axes so oriented that upper and lower flanges 18a and 18b of the channels can serve as tracks for bearing 17, limiting the latter to movement lengthwise of the compartment as a whole.

If made of sheet metal, as will ordinarily be the case, each of the four flanges will be doubled back on itself in the interests of rigidity, thus being of double thickness. This is especially desirable in the case of the two lower tracks 1817. In view of the fact that bearings 17 ride largely on lower tracks 1812, each has to support a substantial part of the weight of the drawer and its contents. The load so imposed on lower tracks 18b is transmitted by way 18 to the side walls of the compartment and thence to the framework of the cabinet.

Compartment 1 is made up, along with the usual outer shell, of a skeletal framework consisting of two generally rectangular frame members 21, one at each end of the compartment. There may, if desired, be more than two, but two are ordinarily enough. Each preferably takes the form of a suitably shaped strip-like element extending as indicated in Figures 1 and 2 around the inside of the shell, the two ends meeting in butt joint (not shown) at the base of the compartment. Overlying the bottom reach of frame member 21 and extending from side to side of the compartment is a reinforcing strip 22 of similar cross-section. The latter thus acts to interconnect the upright portion of frame member 21 on the near side of the compartment and the corresponding upright portion of frame member 21 on the far side of the cornpartment.

Reinforcing strip 22 is fastened in any suitable way to frame member 21, as are also the top, bottom and side walls of the compartment.

Before fastening it in place, pockets or openings are punched or otherwise formed in the reinforcing strip 22 near the two opposite ends thereof, there being one such opening at each end of the reinforcing strip. Each of these openings is slightly smaller at the top than it is at the bottom, thus giving the opening a moderate downward flare. This flare may be deliberately introduced by an independent machining step or it may be allowed to come about more or less naturally as a result of the condition sometimes referred to as break-away. If, as usually will be the case, these openings as seen in top plan are oblong or elliptical rather than square, triangular or round, their long axes (which in a typical case may be twice the length of their short axes) will usually run transversely of the axis of reinforcing strip 22.

Located in each of these openings is a correspondingly shaped mass of nylon or a similar synthetic resin, such being shown and designated 24 and in Figure 2. Each preferably takes the general form of a shallow block with flat upper and lower faces. Preferably, however, it is more or less pyramidal in shape, there being a slight 'upward taper which gives the block, like the opening in which it is located, a trapezoidal appearance when seen in vertical cross-section. In horizontal cross-section each of these blocks corresponds in shape and size to but is slightly smaller than the opening, just enough clearance being left between them to permit the block to fit without undue play in the opening. It is held in place by engagement of its upwardly tapering sidewalls with the downwardly flaring side walls of the opening.

The height of the block preferably exceeds the height of reinforcing strip 22 by a minorfraction of aninch, this to the end that it will project upward from the latter by a small but appreciable amount. For the purposes of invention, a dilference in height of about is ample. In a typical case, as, for example, one in which reinforcing strip 22 has a transverse width of 1" and a thickness of A the openingsmay measure approximately /1 in length and /3" in Width; in such circumstances, blocks 24 and 25 may measure in height. Where these or similar relationships obtain, blocks 24 and 25 can be inserted in position in the reinforcing strip 22 before the latter is fixed to frame member 21 and thereafter will be held firmly in place by reinforcing strip 22, projecting upward from it in the manner indicated in Figure 2.

The raised bearing surfaces on blocks 24 and 25 make area contact, as opposed to line contact, with the horizontally extending portions of angle pieces 13 and 14. The latter are, of course, rigidly attached to drawer 6, which is movable into and out of compartment 1. The horizontally extending portions of angle pieces 13 and 14 therefore can slide after the fashion of runners upon the raised portions of blocks 24 and 25. As a result of this sliding contact between drawer 6 and blocks 24 and 25, that part of the weight of drawer '6 and its contents which is not carried at the rear of the drawer by bearings 17 and ways 18 is carried at the forward end of compartment 1 by blocks 24 and 25. This is accomplished without the loss of any significant amount of space between the bottom of drawer 6 and the top of reinforcing strip 22. 7

With this arrangement, it is possible to pull or push the drawer out of or into closed position with 'very little effort and with no squeaking, sticking or binding of the drawer. Friction at the forward end of the compartment is minimized by the inherent anti-friction characteristics of nylon blocks 24 and 25. Friction at the rear end of the drawer is held to a minimum by the presence of nylon blocks 17 on uprights 15. Although the contact in both cases is over a wide area as compared with the inorc limited type of contact characterizing an antifriction bearing of the ball or roller type, there is no recurring maintenance problem such as that presented where periodic lubrication is necessary.

For the purposes of the invention, it has been found best to use Du Pont nylon of the type referred to in the trade as FMAQOOI, which is said to have a tensile strength of 10,900 p. s. i., a shear strength of 9,600 p. s. i., and a flexural strength of 14,600 p. s. i. As an alternative, it is possible to use nylon of the type known in the trade as FM3,001, and corresponding values for which are 12,900 p. s. i., 8,400 p. s. i. and 9,500 p. s. i. The abrasion resistance of these materials is described as outstanding. The rate of wear is said to be greatest at the start and to decrease as the surface of the nylon glazes over, after which more intimate contact is established and the unit pressure is decreased.

Materials of this type tend to embed abrasive particles, if such happen to be present, as a result whereof the bearing surfaces that are formed maintain themselves well. Lubrication is not required, but if desired the nylon can be caused to absorb a limited amount of oil,

sufiicient to provide lubrication during breaking in, by-

immersing the bearing in light machine oil for a period of several days before installation. Graphite-impregnated nylon may be used, if desired. However, even with nylon that has not been so treated, lubrication almost never is necessary. In the case of acabinet and drawer constructed substantially as shown and provided with bearings of nylon of the type known as FM10,001, it has 'been found that the wear after 15,000 pulls and pushes on the drawer is only about .003", laying a foundation for the inference that even if such an installation were to be repeatedly subjected to daily use, the bearings would nevertheless operate as intended for a great many year s.

Bearings of the kinds shown and described may be molded in conventional ways. If desired, more particularly in the case of bearings 17, the bearings may be cut from solid stock of rectangular cross-section; e. g., bar stock or the like. The same procedures can be employed if use is made ofthe commercially available polyamides other than those used in nylon FM10,001 and Flu-3,001; In either case, the cabinet may be of metal or non-metal, as preferred, although "the advantages that follow from the use of antifriction bearings of synthetic resin are likely to be realized to the greatest advantage where the construction, rather than being of wood or the like, is of steel or other metal.

It is intended that the patent shall cover, by summarization in the appended claims, all features of patentable novelty that reside in the invention.

What is claimed is: p

1. In a filing compartment, :1 drawer comprising a bottom portion, two side walls, front and rear end walls, and, where the rear end wall engages the side walls to form the rear corners of the drawer, two flat vertical uprights disposed in surface engagement with the side walls, one within each of the two corners soformed, each of said uprights being provided at its projecting upper end with a horizontally extending pintlc defining a right angle therewith and mounting thereon a square-cornered bearing block formed after the fashion of an up-ended parallelopiped of shallow altitude which bean'ng block is so positioned on the pintle that one of the two broad faces of the parallelopiped engages a fiat surface on the upright, said bearing block consisting of a self-maintaining synthetic resin of a kind obviating any need for periodic lubrication.

2. A compartment as in claim 1 in which the synthetic resin is a polyamide.

3. A compartment as in claim 2 in which the polyamide is a nylon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,390,377 Ohnstrand Sept. 1-3, 1921 2,223,071 Koch Nov. 26, 1940' 2,400,091 Alfthan May 14., 1946 2,459,598 Stott s-, Jan. 18, 1949 2,497,224 Laure .Feb. 14, 195.0 2,508,269 Koch May 16, 195.0 2,606,091 Buchy et al. Aug. 5, 1952 2,646,333 Abr'ahamson et al. July 21, 1953 

